Take 2. FRIDAY'S GUIDE TO MOVIES & MUSIC. Bluesmakers.

Guitarist Anson Funderburgh Eschews Flash For Substance

April 15, 1994|By Bill Dahl.

In a contemporary blues arena that too often values flashy but empty pyrotechnics over qualities such as subtlety and swing, Anson Funderburgh proudly bucks the trend as one of the genre's crispest, most concise guitarists.

With harpist Sam Myers masterfully handling the vocals, Funderburgh and his Rockets (who play at FitzGerald's in Berwyn on Friday) insist on delivering a brand of tough Texas-style blues that's deeply rooted in tradition.

Citing Freddy King, Kenny Burrell, and B.B. King as prime guitar influences, Funderburgh is following in their succinctly satisfying footsteps.

"Those guys say everything they want to say," says the soft-spoken Funderburgh by phone from Plano, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. "Some people can talk a lot, and some people don't."

Despite his Lone Star upbringing, Funderburgh also salutes several Chicago greats as major motivators. "I love all the West Side guys, like Buddy Guy and Otis Rush, Magic Sam," he says. "I love all those old Jimmy Reed things with Eddie Taylor."

The first edition of the Rockets came together in Dallas in 1979, with Darrell Nulisch as featured vocalist. Two years later, the band signed with Black Top Records and cut their debut album, "Talk To You By Hand." It was also Black Top's initial release.

But it wasn't until 1986, when Myers replaced Nulisch as front man, that the Rockets fully ignited. The veteran harpist gave the group added authenticity, his recording career harking back to a 1957 single for Ace Records, "My Love Is Here To Stay" (backed by King Mose and the Royal Rockers, no less).

In 1961, Myers backed slide guitar legend Elmore James at a New Orleans date for Fire Records (the site of Myers' own session for the label a year earlier, when he waxed a romping "You Don't Have To Go").

Myers was still musically active around Jackson, Miss., when he first sat in with Funderburgh in 1981.

"Sam, he loves music," says Funderburgh. "Music is his life. Even when we're not working, he's out playing."

Together, they're a formidable combination. "To me, he's one of the very best," says Funderburgh. "When he's on, there's a lot of people just as good, but there's really nobody I like to hear any better."

Like several other young blues guitar slingers, Funderburgh avoids the microphone. "I'm not much of a singer," he laughs.

"I'm actually scared to sing. I'm not sure exactly why, but it's just something that I've never felt very comfortable with. I wish I could. I think I'd always hear Sam in my head now, and I'd always fall short."

Filmgoers may recognize Funderburgh and the Rockets from their appearance in the film "China Moon," starring Ed Harris and Madeleine Stowe.

"I don't think any of us are ready for the movie business, but it was fun," says the guitarist.

Seeing himself on the big screen was quite an experience for Funderburgh. "I kind of have a hard time believing it," he laughs. "I mean, it just kind of makes me grin."

Road warriors of the highest order, Funderburgh estimates that the Rockets tour a minimum of 200 days a year-which could easily become a grind.

"As soon as you hit the stage, you forget about it," says Funderburgh, who will record his eighth Black Top album at a Kansas City gig in August (it's the band's first live disc).

"I'm in it for the music," he says. "I like to play, and I like for as many people as possible to hear this kind of music. This is what I love to do."

Blues notes

- Funderburgh and his band aren't the only blues artists providing music for the silver screen. The soundtrack of the new movie "Major League II" includes "(Everything I Do) Got To Be Funky" from Chicago-area bluesman Maurice John Vaughn's 1993 Alligator album, "In the Shadow of the City."